[sumeethaldankar]

How does one handle stops on a bridge/ghat etc while ascending in a Amt ? Do you need to use the handbrake when you have to stop start on a incline ?

[k88k]

@^ Yes using the hand brake is advised.

Also, suggest you to switch to manual mode for driving in ghat sections, because you might have to stick to lower gears for over taking and handling the inclines, and AMT has a tendency to up-shift sooner when compared to manual driving.

[kspv]

I have already faced this problem. While climbing, while you would like to remain in lower gear, the AGS shifts up with the slightest increase in speed, and then the car starts bucking and is no longer able to climb (I don't know if I have put it in proper words).

[Torino]

Originally Posted by kspv

I have already faced this problem. While climbing, while you would like to remain in lower gear, the AGS shifts up with the slightest increase in speed, and then the car starts bucking and is no longer able to climb (I don't know if I have put it in proper words).

Yes you said it right, in D mode the AGS shifts up soon after gaining some momentum when climbing. It is advised to slot the gear lever in Manual mode when climbing steep sections such as underground parking, multi level mall parking and steep ghat sections. The M mode helps in climbing steep sections easier without any drama. When climbing fly over bridges in the city which are usually not that steep, the D mode does the job.

[Torino]

Quick Update:

The little Alto is nearing 48000kms as it buzzes through the city traffic doing its daily chore of commute. The Alto K10 AMT has lived up to its name as an easy to drive, efficient and reliable runabout throughout the 25 months of ownership so far.

The AMT:
There AMT system has been highly reliable with no issues so far and is performing flawlessly keeping the convenience factor high with lack of clutch pedal. The AMT has never behaved erratically in its function nor has it thrown any warning lights on the instrument cluster. The gear shifts are precise and timely without any false shifts or wrong shifts. The AMT can be best exploited by driving sedately and being gentle with the accelerator for smooth driving experience. When you want to drive fast and have some fun, there is the M mode at your disposal.

The K10 engine:
Like I always say, this little buzzer loves to be revved and always ready for action. The engine shows no hesitation to build revs and hit the 6100rpm redline. With no serious intention, I did a 0-100kmph sprint test using an android GPS application and after three tries the best time I could record was 14.1 secs which I think is decent for the AMT Alto.

Tyres:
The stock Bridgestone tyres have enough thread on them to last for another 10,000 kms easily but both the right side tyres have a small bulge on the side wall. I am thinking of up-sizing all four with Yokohama Earth 1 which is said to have strong side wall and low tyre noise.

Fuel Mileage:
The average city mileage hovers around 15.8kmpl with 100% AC, calculated after every tank full with BP unleaded petrol.

Battery Down:
In the past two weeks, couple of times during early morning starts there was a half second delay before the engine cranked. Since it was a rare occurrence I ignored. Few days back while driving back home from office I was waiting for the traffic signal and as usual I turned off the ignition. Once the traffic started moving I turned on the ignition and there was absolute silence with the warning lights in instrument cluster blinking and dimming down. I tried few times and realised that the battery has no juice. With the help of a passer-by I managed to park the car on to the side of the road. I called MOS (Maruti On-road Service) and they managed to arrive in 40 minutes. On inspecting the stock SF Sonic battery, found the cells to be dry with no trace of distilled water. The MOS guy filled distilled water and jump started the car. So now, either the battery cells have failed or the battery water was not topped up during the last service and in either case the car will not start the next morning. The next day morning, luckily the car started without any hesitance. I went to the Maruti Service centre and did a battery test and found the battery to be in good health. Possibly the mechanic failed to check the battery water during the 40k kms service done in February 2017. I will take up this issue during the 50k kms service next month.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by Torino

In the past two weeks, couple of times during early morning starts there was a half second delay before the engine cranked.

Having owned a 800 for 17 years a delay in cranking of the engine is a sign of a weak battery and is a typical way the car says its time for to have a look at the battery. If i were you i would change to a new one soon as this one might not last very long.

[Torino]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

a delay in cranking of the engine is a sign of a weak battery and is a typical way the car says its time for to have a look at the battery.

Hi sumeethaldankar. Last service was done in February 2017 and battery water was topped up as per the service record. Do you think the distilled water got completely dry within three months due to worn out battery cells? I suspect that the water was not filled in the last service. In either case, do you think the cells will have been damaged due to no water? After refilling distilled water and driving around the battery seems to work fine and the engine cranks without delay. Do you still suggest that I should change the battery?

Two days later, I tested the battery health in MASS.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by Torino

Hi sumeethaldankar. Last service was done in February 2017 and battery water was topped up as per the service record. Do you think the distilled water got completely dry within three months due to worn out battery cells? I suspect that the water was not filled in the last service. In either case, do you think the cells will have been damaged due to no water? After refilling distilled water and driving around the battery seems to work fine and the engine cranks without delay. Do you still suggest that I should change the battery?
Two days later, I tested the battery health in MASS.

If Maruti guys are saying battery is in good condition then i guess you could continue however the tell tale sign of a weak battery is a delayed crank or one which would stop midway a bit and start. If this delay happens again it's best to get a new battery. Most OE battery are not supposed to last more than 2 years. My 800's OE Exide died within 2 years. Keep a watch on the crank behavior and it should be fine.

Edit: I am speaking from experience of my 800 which bought new way back in '97. Maybe they supply better OE battery these days which last longer :-)

[Torino]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

If Maruti guys are saying battery is in good condition then i guess you could continue however the tell tale sign of a weak battery is a delayed crank or one which would stop midway a bit and start. If this delay happens again it's best to get a new battery. Most OE battery are not supposed to last more than 2 years. My 800's OE Exide died within 2 years. Keep a watch on the crank behavior and it should be fine.

Thanks for the insight. My battery is now two years old, I'll closely monitor the battery performance and change it at the right time.

[satanic_dude]

Originally Posted by Torino

Tyres:
The stock Bridgestone tyres have enough thread on them to last for another 10,000 kms easily but both the right side tyres have a small bulge on the side wall.

Torino, please have these changed immediately! Bulges aren't good at all, and since you do regular highway stints, these can result in a blow out at higher temperatures. 48000 KM is good enough for end of life of a tyre! My 45000 KM (5yrs - too old though!) stock MRF ZV2K front left tyre developed a tread bulge while doing a high speed stint on NH45 near Trichy on a hot afternoon. That itself scared me enough, and I replaced the whole set the very next day with stock size MRF ZLX which are of a softer compound and offer better grip whilst not compromising on ride quality.

Regarding the battery, I suspect this was neglected by MASS during few services. My K10 struggled to crank just before starting a trip to Munnar. On the way, topped up distilled water at the Chromepet GST Road Shell bunk, and was shocked to see that the water levels were low. From then on, it cranked as good as new, every single time until it finally drowned in the Dec 2015 floods (by when it was already nearing end of life, 4+ years). It was replaced with a new SF Sonic after flood repair.

Always check your battery at least once a month at any small battery shop. They will do this and top up the cells for a small tip (Rs.20). I wouldn't trust MASS to ever check the battery during service. Although the adhoc checkup you did with the print out is a different story. Was that a paid checkup? The cells wouldn't have been damaged completely due to less water, but corrosion would have just set in and the battery may have reduced overall life span if it had been left like that for a very long time.

Otherwise, really glad to hear about the fantastic mileage, AMT performance and amazing reliability. Living up to the Alto USP! Great to hear that you've done this mileage in just two years.

Cheers.

Regards,
Abhishek

[Torino]

Originally Posted by satanic_dude

Bulges aren't good at all

Hi Abhishek. I will be changing the tyres this month and have shortlisted Yokohama Earth-1 175/60 mainly for better ride and handling.

Originally Posted by satanic_dude

Always check your battery at least once a month at any small battery shop. They will do this and top up the cells for a small tip (Rs.20). I wouldn't trust MASS to ever check the battery during service. Although the adhoc checkup you did with the print out is a different story. Was that a paid checkup? The cells wouldn't have been damaged completely due to less water, but corrosion would have just set in and the battery may have reduced overall life span if it had been left like that for a very long time.

I have bought myself a distilled water bottle for Rs20 and will be using it to top up regularly. The battery check up with MASS was done free.

Originally Posted by satanic_dude

Otherwise, really glad to hear about the fantastic mileage, AMT performance and amazing reliability. Living up to the Alto USP! Great to hear that you've done this mileage in just two years.

The car has its own share of scratches due to careless bikers. Apart from that the car is living up to its name very well.

[Chethan B G]

Excellent ownership report! Took a while to finish reading. Happy motoring!! 👍

I had a question: Can the car be moved from stand-still in manual mode? That is, can the car be driven ONLY in the manual mode (if required)?

Thanks in advance! 😊

[Torino]

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

Excellent ownership report! Took a while to finish reading. Happy motoring!! 👍

I had a question: Can the car be moved from stand-still in manual mode? That is, can the car be driven ONLY in the manual mode (if required)?

Thanks in advance! 😊

Thanks for reading.

Yes. You can drive the car in M mode from stand-still. You can drive entirely in M mode from start to stop of a trip.

[Torino]

And the Alto K10 AMT crossed the 50,000kms milestone after 28 months of blissful ownership which calculates to an average of 60kms a day. After 50,000kms, I’d say the AMT is functioning the same way as it did on day one, reliable, effective and efficient.

The 50,000kms milestone.


Current Odometer reading.


In all this 50,000kms, the car did 8500kms on the inter-state highways doing triple digit speeds and the remaining kilometres were done in Chennai city. The Alto is my daily work horse for office commute taking me across the city and back with the on-road time lasting 3 hours a day, 5 days a week and doubling up as a shopping cart on weekends. Over the years the car has been driven on fast highways, bumper-to-bumper traffic, also a month of water wading through 1 feet of water during the Chennai floods in 2015.

As part of having fun, the car is redlined quite often on empty stretch of good tarmac and when standing first for the green signal but other than this the car is generally driven sedately. The Alto begins its day with a good wipe from a dry micro fibre cloth to take away the dust. Micro fibre cloth with water is used 2 or 3 times a week to get rid of the accumulated stains and muck. So-far, the micro fibre cloth, water and Sonax dashboard spray has been my regular car cleaning kit for the Alto.

Zipping through traffic, taking quick U turns and the ease of driving through narrow streets has become a usual task without breaking a sweat thanks to the Alto’s compact dimensions and excellent control and visibility you get from the driver seat. At slow speeds the steering wheel doesn’t feel light as many cars out there but feels direct and has good feedback. I got used to the life less steering feel at speeds over 80kmph. The ride quality on bad roads is unsettled and bouncy but improves drastically with more people onboard.

Engine and Performance:
I can describe this in one word, “fun”. The car can surprise you with its brisk acceleration and can achieve crazy speeds on open roads and the driving experience is pure entertainment when you play with the accelerator pedal and taking it to its limits even in the first three gears. I once had the opportunity to test its top speed and was left in utter disbelief seeing the speedo needle sweeping across the entire speedometer! Above 2500rpm the engine noise is prominent inside the cabin thanks to the minimal to zero cabin insulation. At idle the engine is fairly silent but you can feel slight vibrations from the 3-cylinder engine. On the move though apart from the buzzing engine noise, the engine is smooth and rev-happy even at 6000rpm redline. Recommended grade Mobil1 synthetic oil was used for 40,000kms and Castrol semi-synthetic oil for 10,000kms. I was able to get better mileage with the semi-synthetic oil.

Fuel Efficiency:
The car always gets a tank full of fuel as soon as the fuel level drops below quarter tank level. As much as possible I have tried to tank up in the same BP fuel station with unleaded petrol. The car is always driven with AC and the average city mileage has been consistent at around 15.5-16kmpl. The best city mileage achieved was 17.1kmpl. Best highway mileage with 100% AC and maintaining 120kmph was 18kmpl. If driven around 80-100kmph, getting 20+ kmpl easy. The worst highway mileage of 14kmpl was achieved while going bonkers with the right foot for around 300kms with three people onboard and AC.

In the last 10,000kms I have used the M mode more than in the past 40,000kms.


The AMT:
At 50,000kms the AMT system has been reliable, effective and efficient. So far there has been no false shifts, no gear drops, no AMT warning lights, no unusual behaviour and no break downs. Touch wood. While driving in D mode in slow moving traffic, slight jerk is felt when the upshift to 2nd or down shift to 1st is interrupted by brake or accelerator input. Once you cross 2nd gear the gear shifts are smooth and jerk free, shifting between 3rd, 4th and 5th gear is seamless at any speed. Of course you can feel the pause in acceleration during gear shifts which is similar to driving a manual car and so no complaints here. I test drove the Ignis petrol AMT and the Dzire petrol AMT and the jerks between 1st amd 2nd gears were almost non-existent and the response to accelerator input during stop-go was more instant thanks to better low end torque their engines offer. That said, the gear shifts between 3,4 and 5 felt same as in the Alto.

The creep function needs a special mention, lift the foot off the brake pedal and the car crawls forward without any accelerator input. Highly useful when you want to close the gap ahead in slow traffic. The creep function also works when you stop on a flyover bridge. The creep function is deactivated when you engage the hand brake and you have to use the accelerator pedal to move ahead. In case if you want to leave the traffic behind when setting off form a green signal or if it’s a highway overtake situation, simply tap the gear lever into M mode, reduce a gear or two and stomp the accelerator and keep an eye on the tachometer to upshift before you get hit by the rev limiter wall. The AMT does excellent rev-matching so no jerks are felt when you downshift a gear or two in M mode. In the last 10,000kms I have used the M mode more than in the past 40,000kms. The M mode was used essentially for overtaking and getting away from traffic signals.

The stock Bridgestone S322 have good life but noisy.


I'm planning to replace the Bridgestones with Yokohamas.


The after market alloys have held on well.


Tiny stones tends to get caught in the tyre treads


Build Quality:
The sheet metal is thin, doors feel light, interior plastics are hard and shiny but everything is put together rather well with no uneven gaps all around. When driving on broken roads I could hear squeaks from the left side front and rear passenger interior plastic door panel. Why only the left side doors? Well, only these two doors are mostly used other than the driver door which I don’t slam to close. Since the sheet metal is wafer thin, both the front fender panels have slightly lost their flatness due to people leaning on it when the car is parked. Apart from these couple of squeaks the car is bolted together rather well and nothing has fallen off or broken. Every day at the office the car is parked under the tree and the body paint has held on to its colour and sheen pretty well even after taking daily shots of bird droppings and tree sap. Cabin insulation is zero. The engine noise and road noise are ever present inside the cabin. Even small stones hitting the wheel well is heard crisp and clear. But the wind noise is kept away rather well.

A pair of rear co-axial speakers and tweeters are the only aftermarket electricals fitted to the car. The car still runs on factory fitted brake pads and the brakes continue to offer decent bite. The stock Bridgestone S322’s offer decent grip and long thread life. The tyres squeal a lot when taking quick U turns and during hard braking on wet surface the tyres tend to lock up easily but the grip is good on dry surface. Two of the tyres need replacement due to formation of small bulge on the side wall which was caused by a bad pothole, apart from that all the tyres have enough thread on them to last for another 10k kms easily. All the four tyres are due for replacement anytime soon with Yokohama’s.

50,000kms service update:
The 50k kms service is not a major service unlike the 40k kms one and hence only the engine oil, oil filter and air filter is changed.

Job done:

1. Replaced Engine oil with Mobil 0W40 fully synthetic
2. Replaced Oil filter
3. Replaced Air filter
4. Brakes clean and check
5. Wheel rotation

Total cost for the service was Rs5658. This service was done at a small MASS centre called Perfect Maruti Care (link) located in RA Puram near Alwarpet in Chennai. This MASS center has basic set up and nothing fancy. The service advisor was friendly and the car was delivered on time, clean and tidy.

The 50,000kms service bill. No major complaints.


Excellent visibility from the driver's seat.


The stock headlight set up lights up the road rather well




Love the blue color.

[sairamboko]

Hi Tornio- your ownership report gives fellow K10 AMT owners much confidence and reassurance! I have completed 9600 kms in less than 7 months and have dropped at MASS today for the 3rd service. Thanks a lot for your inputs and the report Torino!